Sister
Ellenor
Calnan
Born in Culcairn, New South Wales, Australia
Ancestors 
Daughter of William Norman Calnan
and Mary Ellen (O'Brien) Calnan
Sister of
Noel William Calnan
Died
at age 29
in Bangka Strait, Netherlands East Indies
Profile last modified
| Created 29 Feb 2020
This page has been accessed 253 times.
Biography
Ellenor Calnan was born on 4th March 1912 at Culcairn, New South Wales, Australia. She was the daughter of Victorian-born parents, William Calnan and Mary O'Brien. [1]
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| Sister Ellenor Calnan |
Ellenor was a nurse
Ellenor completed her training and was registered as a nurse. By 1940 she was working in a Brisbane, Queensland hospital. [2]
On 17th January 1941, Ellenor enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service and was attached to the 2/10th Australian General Hospital, then based at Malacca, Malaya, as a Sister (rank equivalent to Captain). [2] After a series of strategic withdrawals in the face of the seemingly all-conquering Imperial Japanese Army in December 1941-January 1942, the hospital set up in Singapore. As the inevitable defeat loomed, along with 64 other Australian nurses and many civilians, including women and children, Ellenor was evacuated from Singapore on 12th February aboard the ill-fated Vyner Brooke. As with some 90% of escaping ships at that time, the Vyner Brooke was discovered by the Japanese as it was entering the Bangka Strait two days later, bombed and strafed repeatedly, and sank within twenty minutes.
Sister Ellenor Calnan was killed in action at Bangka Strait during the Second World War.
Whilst many of the nurses escaped the sinking to become prisoners-of-war or be murdered, Ellenor died at this time. It would appear that she was killed in the bombing; just a fortnight before the thirtieth anniversary of her birth. [3] Ellenor Calnan's name is located at panel 96 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at Kranji War Cemtery, Singapore and is listed on the Wagga Wagga Cenotaph. [4]
Sources
- ↑ New South Wales Birth index #3955/1912; registered at Germanton (later Holbrook)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: QFX19072 Sister Ellenor Calnan; accessed 29 Feb 2020
- ↑ Shaw, Ian W. 'On Radji Beach: The Story of the Australian Nurses after the Fall of Singapore'. MacMillan, Sydney, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4050-4024-2
- ↑ Australian War Memorial roll of honour: QFX19072 Sister Ellenor Calnan; accessed 29 Feb 2020
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Ellenor by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Ellenor:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Ellenor by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Ellenor:
-
~3.12%
Garry Clough
:
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member garsan148
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